The Ocean's Call
by LullabyStorm
Summary: Written for the Digimon Adventure Bang 2016. Kari is starting to hear those voices from her nightmares again. She can feel the darkness getting stronger. She doesn't feel like she can fight it by herself, but when she's taken once again, she finds herself alone. Can she fight the darkness to save her light?
1. Chapter 1

**A:N: So this piece was written as part of the Digimon Adventure Bang challenge on tumblr. It's a great challenge where writers and artists collaborate to produce content for the Bang. Check out the tag on tumblr, there's some great pieces out there. Chapter 2 is to come later on today!**

* * *

 **The Ocean's Call**

 **Chapter 1**

Everything was black.

The surrounding atmosphere was suffocating, the air heavy with an evil presence that could almost crush anyone foolish enough to be there.

Of course, that's what was happening to one person.

The figure struggled to breathe, her chest heaving as she felt an overwhelming crushing sensation sweep over her. She didn't know where she was or how she got there. The last thing she remembered was talking with her brother before going to bed.

' _Where am I? Why….can't I breathe properly?'_ the girl tried to control her breathing, taking several deep breaths to try and regulate it, but to no avail. The crushing feeling still lingered.

' _This-this can't be….can it?'_

A sudden realisation came over the young girl. She had felt this kind of darkness before. Her eyes widened as the memories started to flood her mind, filling her with a sense of dread and panic.

' _Oh no! No no no no no!'_

The girl's body began to shake as the panic began to take over. Her mind filling with unpleasant thoughts as she recalled the awful place that haunted her dreams. She tried to look around her to see if she could pinpoint anything familiar, but all she could see was darkness. That cold, dreading feeling swept through her once again.

' _Please, don't let it be true! Please-'_ her thoughts were disturbed as she suddenly heard muffled voices in the distance.

They were getting louder. They spoke in unison, almost like they were chanting something. They sounded VERY familiar, almost too familiar for the girl's liking.

The darkness around her began to dissipate bit by bit, that's when she caught the shadowy outlines of the voices.

" _Our Queen is here! Our Queen!"_ the voices chanted.

The dreaded sound made her feel queasy, her breathing was getting more rapid as the panic continued to build within her. They looked exactly like the corrupted Scubamon she encountered a few years ago, the same ones who tried to make her be their queen for their ruler. Their blackened forms came into her view, but the thing that caught her eye was the towering figure behind them, a menacing presence emerging from the ocean behind. Her gut feeling was right and she wasn't happy about it. She was in the Dark Ocean.

Her eyes followed the body of the figure upwards until she met the menacing eyes of the towering monster- and leader of this awful place, his orbs glowing red. This was the leader who wanted to take her and make her his queen. That thought almost made her vomit.

"Ah yesss, the chosen of Light has returned to ussss." His voice hissed slightly, making her feel very uncomfortable and frightened. She tried closing her eyes tight, hoping that this was just a bad dream, and that she would open her eyes and be in her bed again.

That wasn't the case.

She was still faced with those hideous, black silhouettes when she opened her eyes.

"It's time for you to become my queen! I will eradicate your Light and darkness will rule everything, even your own world!" the leader's voice boomed above her, making her flinch.

His words went right through her; the colour drained from her face and her knees almost gave way. She was frightened now. She was absolutely terrified and she didn't know how to get away. Last time, she had the help of her friends and her digimon, right now, she didn't have anyone.

' _This isn't real. This is all a bad dream, it isn't real!'_ she repeated this over and over in her head. _'I'll just wake up in my bed and everything will be fine.'_

"Get her."

Her head whipped up, she noticed the shadowy figures walk towards her, their spindly arms reaching out for their queen. She began to panic, trying to look for an escape route but finding nothing. The suffocating feeling returned, it felt like something was crushing her chest; breathing became difficult as she tried to keep the dark beings away from her.

' _Get away! Don't touch me, just go away.'_ She tried to scream but her voice failed, only gasps came out of her mouth. The beings were almost upon her, ready to take her away and corrupt her so she could become the queen of darkness.

She suddenly felt a cold hand grip her arm. She flinched at the contact, struggling to try and get the being off her. She tried to scream again but no sound came out. It was almost like her voice had been sucked out of her. She looked up to find herself faced with nothing but darkness once again.

' _GO AWAY!'_

* * *

The brunette jolted upright in her bed, beads of sweat glittered on her forehead as she tried to control her racing heart. She shot her head back and forth, expecting those dark figures to be around her, but all she was greeted with was the stillness of her room.

She let out a sigh of relief and tried to regulate her breathing. Her throat felt like sandpaper and her body felt moist with sweat. She looked down and saw her top clinging to her body. Her hand reached out for the glass of water she had placed on her bedside table and she shakenly brought it to her lips.

She gulped down the cool liquid, bringing relief to her parched mouth. Her mind was still reeling from her encounter. Was it real? Or was it just another bad dream? She had been having these regularly, each of them getting increasingly worse each night. Once she finished her water, she placed the glass back to its rightful place.

Her body was still shaking slightly; the encounter had been the worse one yet. Every night, the corrupt Scubamon would get closer to her, and this was the first night that they had managed to grab her. She could still feel the indents from the claw that had gripped her arm.

' _It was just a dream; it was just a dream…just a dream…'_ Her mind was scattered.

"Kari?"

The brunette glanced over to the end of her bed, her eyes coming into contact with her digimon; who was looking at her with concern.

"I'm sorry if I woke you Gatomon." She whispered, her voice cracked slightly but she was relieved her voice was actually working. The cat digimon stood up from her position at the end of the bed and walked over to her.

"You seem pretty freaked out, is everyone alright?" the feline studied her carefully. Kari's shirt stuck to her like glue from the sweat, her breathing was uneven and she looked she was on the edge of a panic attack. Whatever was going on, Kari was definitely not okay.

"It was just a bad dream that's all." Kari explained. She glanced at her clock on her wall that read 2:50am.

"That can't be it if it's got you in state like this, you can talk to me Kari." The feline digimon replied, gently placing her paw on Kari's leg to show her that she was here to give Kari support.

Kari was grateful for her digimon's support but she couldn't find the courage in her to talk about the encounter. It almost felt too real to be a dream; though she wanted it to be, and she didn't want to bother anyone with it. She was hoping that it would go away with time and she could go back to having a normal night's sleep.

"Honestly, I'm fine Gatomon. Like I said, it was just a bad dream. Now we better get back to sleep, I have school in the morning." Kari smiled, trying her best to hide the fear she was feeling.

Gatomon narrowed her eyes but decided not to push it. She knew there was something wrong and that Kari would try to hide it. She was always putting others before herself, and sometimes that scared Gatomon.

"Okay. But if there's something bothering you, you know I'm always here."

"Thank you."

Gatomon shifted back to her usual position and curled up. Kari took one last deep breath and lowered herself back down on her mattress. She knew fully well that she wasn't going to get anymore sleep tonight. Her nightmare was still way too fresh in her mind and she couldn't quell the intense fear she was feeling.

* * *

She tried to think that this whole thing was nothing, but she had a nagging feeling that something bad was about to happen.

"Hey Kari, you up yet?"

A young man poked his head into Kari's room, expecting to see his younger sister ready for the journey to school. He did not expect to see her still asleep in her bed, especially when she was due to leave in ten minutes, normally she was the one pestering him to wake up in the morning.

"Hey! You're going to be late for school!" he walked over to the side of his sister's bed and began to shake her slightly. She groaned at the interruption but made no move to get out of bed, the young man shook her a little harder.

"Kari, wake up!"

Kari groaned before squinting to see her older brother standing above her. She became very confused as to why her brother was in her room trying to wake her up.

"What are doing Tai?" she mumbled groggily.

"Waking you up for school, you have to leave in ten minutes." Tai replied.

Kari shot up so fast that she got head rush. She hadn't realized just how late it was. That nightmare must have really knocked her out of it. Kari quickly shot out of bed and sprinted towards the bathroom, cursing slightly at the fact she had overslept.

The reality was that her nightmare of the Dark Ocean had really thrown her out of whack. After she had convinced Gatomon that she was alright, she had spent the rest of night trying to calm her racing heart and sweating body. Her body was so tense that she found it hard to relax, her fear of being dragged into ocean crippling her sleep. Eventually, her body must've gotten too exhausted to stay awake.

She tried to keep that dark place off her mind as she tried to make her appearance presentable. Once she had fixed her hair, she quickly put on her school uniform and ran back to her room to grab her schoolbag.

It was a very rare occasion that Tai saw his sister in such a hurry, she was always the first one to wake up in the morning and pester him to get out of bed. It almost made him wonder if something was wrong with how panicked she looked.

"Are you alright Kari?" he asked

The brunette was in the middle of scoffing down some food and organizing the stuff in her bag. It seemed that she hadn't heard her brother's question, or she was just getting herself too flustered to talk.

Once Kari had scoffed down what she could, she sprinted for the front door.

"Bye Tai see you later!" she yelled. Tai tried to yell something back but she was gone before he could even get the first word out of his mouth.

He just hoped everything was okay with his sister.

* * *

" _Damn it, I'm going to be so late!"_ Kari thought as she panted. She couldn't believe that she had overslept and now she was almost going to be late for school.

" _Damn it damn it damn it_." She huffed as her body started to ache and she started to lose breath. She hadn't realized it earlier, but she was still feeling exhausted from the terrible night's sleep. She honestly didn't know how she was going to get through today.

The images from her nightmare came racing back. Her heart began to race with anxiety as she remembered how Dragomon towered above her, threatening to eradicate her Light and make her his queen. The suffocating feeling came back to her and she tried to shake it off.

" _No, it's not real."_ She tried her hardest to convince herself that, but the fear was still there, lingering.

She shook her head, took a deep breath, and broke into a sprint once again.

* * *

Kari burst through the school's door just as the first bell rang. She hunched over and tried to regain her breath, relief filling her as she just made it in the nick of time.

" _Thank god."_ She thought as she gasped for air. Her lungs were burning from all the running, her face flushed and her head hung low. She could feel her body sweating and her sides ached from the stitch she had gotten. She was completely out of breath, but soon enough, the short, shallow gasps slowly turned into deep breaths.

She straightened up slowly only to feel her body sway slightly and her head go dizzy. She hadn't really eaten much back at home due to her panicked mind about being late, so she had exerted herself a bit too much. She leaned against the corridor wall slightly so she could focus on her breathing before heading to class. It was only a few seconds, but her breathing slowed down and she stopped seeing spots in her vision.

"It's not like you to be late, maybe I should've called to wake you up?" Kari turned to face her best friend smiling at her. He had a face full of mischief as he often did when he was teasing her, but honestly, it was just the distraction she needed right now.

"And just how many times have I had to call you to make sure you're actually awake?" she replied. "Besides, it's not like I overslept on purpose."

"Are you insinuating that I would do such a thing?" the blonde said, trying to show how offended he was by her words, but Kari saw right through him.

"I swear you spend more time in bed than my cat TK." She said, giggling at TK's attempt to look offended, but she knew better than to take his bait.

They laughed together for a minute before Kari started to feel her body sway again. She felt TK steady her, thankful that he was there to support her.

"Jesus Kari, did you run all the way here?" TK asked. Kari nodded, feeling a little embarrassed but she had never been late to school before, and she didn't want to start now.

The two teens heard the school bell ring for the second time, signalling them that it was time to head to class. Kari straightened herself up and walked to her first class with TK by her side.

* * *

Everything was a blur.

Kari tried focusing on the board in front of her but the words written by the teacher just seemed to merge together, creating an ineligible mess or swirls.

Once she had managed to sit down, the exhaustion hit her like a ton of bricks. Her eyes felt heavy from the strain of trying to keep them open, her body numb-her mind elsewhere. She closed her eyes for a moment, hoping to just give them a little rest when she thought she could hear the sound of the ocean.

She jolted upright, panicking at the thought of being back there again, but she found herself in her classroom, the teacher still babbling on about god knows what.

She felt a nudge on her side and turned her head to face TK.

"Are you feeling alright?" he whispered with concern. He had started noticing that Kari was acting like herself ever since they had got to class. Now that they had sat down, TK got a good look of Kari and noticed just how tired she looked. The bags under her eyes were dark and puffy, like she hadn't gotten a wink of sleep last night.

Kari stared at him and bit her lip, she wanted to tell him about her nightmare, he was her best friend and he was probably the one she trusted the most when it came to the Dark Ocean, especially since he had been a witness to her first kidnapping, but Kari didn't want to worry him and she knew now was not the time and place to talk.

"I'm fine, I just had a hard time sleeping last night." She replied as she turned back to try and focus on the board.

TK knew she was hiding something. He knew his best friend too well to know when something was wrong and knew when she would try and hide it. He wanted to question her more but they would probably get into trouble for talking in class, so he let it drop for now and concentrated on the lesson. He would try asking her again after class.

Towards the end of the lesson, he felt a weight on his shoulder and turned to see Kari's head resting on it. That just made him even more concerned for his best friend as she was always very attentive in their classes. He stared at the clock and hoped their teacher didn't notice that the brunette had fallen asleep on him.

* * *

"What's wrong Kari, this is not like you."

Kari rubbed her eyes as she tried to concentrate on TK's words. She hadn't noticed that she had drifted off in her first class until TK had to nudge her awake at the end.

"I said I'm fine TK, just tired is all." She replied.

He knew she was lying. The look in her eyes showed the exhaustion she was feeling, but of course she would lie, she never wanted to make other people worry about her. It frustrated TK sometimes.

"You fell asleep in class; it's not like you to do that on a normal day."

Kari continued to stare downwards, refusing to meet TK's eyes. She knew that she couldn't keep lying like this, since TK could see right through her ruse, but she knew that he of all people would become paranoid if she told him about the ocean. He saw first-hand what that dark place was like, so she knew without a doubt that he would worry the most.

"Does….does this have anything to do with the Dark Ocean?"

She lifted her head to make eye contact with him. The look on his face conveyed concern, but also fear for her well-being. She could see him reliving that day she was taken. She didn't want this, she didn't want him fretting over her. He had enough to deal with; and she wasn't worth the extra stress.

Trying to erase any hit of exhaustion and fear from her face, she stood up from the chair she had been sitting on and faced TK.

"I just haven't been sleeping well lately, I guess I'm just stressed from the schoolwork. I'll be okay." Kari was surprised that she managed to keep her composure, though it didn't feel good lying to one of her closest friends, but it was she could do to keep them safe from whatever was haunting her.

TK studied her carefully. He could tell that she was hiding something from him, her eyes portrayed a certain fear, she was scared, and it killed him to think that she was hiding it from him.

"You promise?" he asked. He knew he should push her, his gut instinct screamed that something definitely wasn't right, but he also knew that pushing it might make it worse.

Kari opened her mouth to reply but found herself hesitating. How could she promise him that? She wasn't okay. All she wanted to do was cry and tell him everything that had been going on, but that could potentially put him in danger, and all of her friends too.

"I promise" she lied. She hated lying to her friends.

The blonde knew he wasn't going to get any further, not until she was ready to talk, so he begrudgingly accepted her promise.

"At least go and get a little bit of rest in the nurse's office. I'll let the teacher know you're not feeling well." He demanded, if she wasn't going to talk to him, then the least he could do is make sure she caught up on some sleep.

Kari stiffened at the command. She was not ready to face those demons again, but the sternness in his eyes told her that this wasn't up for debate. She reluctantly agreed.

* * *

Kari dawdled down the corridor towards the school infirmary, on strict instructions to 'get some rest' from her best friend, though if she was being honest with herself, she was absolutely terrified about the thought of even napping. She knew she needed the rest, as her body felt heavy and she was dragging her feet along the floor, clear signs that her body couldn't keep this up.

She made it to the top of the stairs which lead to the floor the infirmary was on. Very slowly, she descended the stairs.

She managed to get halfway when everything around her began to blur. She noticed her environment began to distort; the colours disappearing until nothing but grey surrounded her. Her eyes widened when she realized she could hear ocean waves in the background. A shiver shot through her and everything around her suddenly became very cold. She tried not to panic.

'It's a just your imagination.' She thought to herself, shutting her eyes tightly before opening them, hoping that the grey would have dispersed and that she would find herself on the school stairs, but that was not the case.

'Come….m….queen'

She could hear a very faint whisper. Something was calling out to her; and that scared her.

'Come…..my….queen'

The voice started to become clearer and her heart rate rose. She tried to look around, frantically trying to spot whatever was trying to call to her.

'Go away!'

She gripped her head in panic, trying to fight the voices she was hearing. Her chest became tight and she started to find very difficult to breathe.

'Come my queen!'

Before Kari could have a chance to fight whatever it was, everything went black.

* * *

TK swerved between students as he powerwalked down the hall. He had just finished his lesson; though he couldn't even remember the content that was covered because his mind was preoccupied. He couldn't stop worrying about his best friend after he commanded her to go and get some rest.

It was exactly like the time she was disappearing in class. She acted very distant, found it hard to concentrate in class and was just not herself. It scared him to think that the ocean might be bothering her again, but he also felt a little bit of hurt and anger because she refused to let him help her. If only she would open up.

He began to notice some students jog past him. He then noticed a huge crowd of students gathered at the top of the stairs that led to the lower floor, most of them whispering and gasping at something that he couldn't see.

Intrigued, the blonde pushed his way through the crowd to see what everyone was looking at. When he reached the front of the crowd and looked down, his face paled.

"KARI!" he screamed as he leaped down the stairs. At the bottom of them lay the brunette girl, unconscious with some other students crowded around her. Once TK reached the bottom, he fell to his knees to try and get a good look at her. He cradled her head gently with his hand only to feel a slight wetness.

He panicked slightly when he saw the small pool of blood beneath where her head had been. He whipped his head to face the nearest student, begging to tell him what had happened.

"She-she just fell unconscious on the stairs. She-she must've hit her head on the way d-down."

This wasn't good. TK knew he had to get to her to the hospital as soon as possible. He yelled for someone to call an ambulance.

He tried to wake her up- but stopped in fear when he noticed parts of body starting to phase in and out of focus.

She was disappearing again.

* * *

' _Where am I?'_

Kari groaned as she started to become aware of her surroundings. The first thing she registered was just how cold she was, a chill shooting through her body, goose bumps rising on her skin. The last thing she remembered was walking down the stairs and then…nothing but blackness.

She slowly opened her eyes to find nothing but grey, the land so desolate and bleak, but very familiar to the young brunette.

She jolted upright when she became aware of where she was.

' _Not again!'_

She tried to remain calm; panicking wouldn't help in this situation but the fright she felt before began to creep back. This place, so dreary and full of darkness, was the stuff of nightmares, and Kari knew too well just how frightening this place was.

She felt the damp sand beneath her and could see the ocean expanding into the horizon, but no signs of the dark creatures that resided here that tried to abduct her before.

' _It's just a dream, that's all it is, just a dream. Nothing can hurt you.'_ She chanted in her head over and over again.

She closed her eyes tightly and stayed like that for a few seconds. When she opened them again, she hoped she would be back in school, but the dreary ocean was still in her sight. Her heart rate sped up and she began to feel nauseous.

"No no no no no no no!" she cried out, her hands digging into the sand as she tried to regain some sort of sanity.

Suddenly, the ocean waters rippled in front of her. The same black figures from her nightmares emerged from the water; their eyes glowing and heading straight towards her.

"Our queen has returned." Their voices hissed, sending shivers down her spine. She tried to look around for an escape route, but there was nothing but sand around her; and this wasn't a dream either.

Kari tried to stand up from the ground, but she was frozen in fear. The figures closed in on her. Kari stared up at the blackness surrounded; her body shaking as she felt the breath of the creatures down her neck.

"What..what do you want with me?" she asked in a brittle voice; which did a good job in conveying her fear to the enemy. She felt very vulnerable right now.

She jumped when one of the creatures grabbed her arm and forced her to stand. Her legs felt unsteady as her body was still shaking, and she felt too weak to fight them off.

"Our master wants us to bring you to his domain." The voices hissed around her. She wished Gatomon were here with her, that way she had a slight chance to fight off this creatures, but she was here on her own; and she wasn't strong enough.

"Come."

She was shoved forward at the command and was forced to walk towards the water. She panicked as she got closer to the water; the thought of drowning making her body tremble. Before they touched the water, the corrupt figures managed to forge a protective bubble around them; allowing them to walk into the water without Kari drowning.

She didn't know where she was going but she kept quiet the whole time.

* * *

She didn't know how long they had been walking or even how it happened; but she soon found herself walking through a dark hall. She didn't even how there could even be a place like this under the ocean but somehow it was.

The place was just as dark as the ocean itself; she could sense the darkness strongly in this place due to the power of her crest. She felt like she was suffocating in this place; the darkness was definitely taking its toll on her.

She dragged her feet down the hallway until she reached a set of double doors. Some of the corrupt digimon went forward and hissed something too low for her to hear. Suddenly, the doors creaked open; allowing her to look into a massive room. It was huge; the walls were plain and there were only a few candles lit up; giving off a faint glow in the room. It was still hard to see her surroundings; everything was just so dark.

She was suddenly shoved forward by the creatures and she fell to her knees; her body still too unstable for her to stand on her feet. She glanced ahead of her but nothing but darkness greeted her.

Suddenly, the room went extremely cold; almost like a menacing presence had just entered the room. The creatures behind her started to hiss and whisper excitedly amongst themselves, but Kari was to focussed on the chill to even try and make out what they were saying.

" _Finally, my Queen has returned."_

Kari recognised that voice. It was the same voice that tried to take her in her dreams; the voice of the master of this realm. She remembered the last nightmare she had where she managed to gaze upon the master.

Darkness began to swirl in front of her, taking shape of the towering monster that haunted her dreams. She recognised the menacing red eyes that she saw in her nightmare from the previous night. Her stomach was doing somersaults due to fright, making her nauseous and almost like she was about to pass out.

Keeping her eyes on the monsters, she gathered a little of her strength to talk.

"What do y-you want with m-me?" she stuttered and silently cursed how weak her voice sounded, cursed at her lack of strength to fight off the monsters behind and cursed at how weak she actually was.

The master roared with laughter, the sound reverberating throughout the room they were in. Kari winced at the sound, feeling extremely intimidated by the monster in front of her.

" _I want you as my Queen. With your power, I can rule both the real world and the Digital world."_

The brunette was suddenly jerked up onto her feet, finding herself trapped as two of the corrupt digimon held onto one arm each. The Chosen of Light started to thrash in panic, trying her hardest to escape from the monsters' grip, but to no avail. They held onto her arms tight- there was no escape for her.

The master of the realm inched forward towards Kari. The limited light source within the room still managed to illuminate the monster, allowing Kari to make out the bluish colour of its skin. His body was made almost entirely of tentacles, some bound down by huge rings- almost creating the illusion of legs. He had small wings protruding from his back and large, sharp teeth.

Kari swallowed down the bile that was rising from her stomach. Never had she felt so sick with fear.

" _But first, I must eradicate your Light."_

Kari's eyes widened when she noticed trials of darkness flow from the monster in front of her slowly creep towards her. She tried to fight back, thrashing and twisting her body to loosen the corrupt digimon's grip on her arms, but it was no use. They were just too strong.

She screamed. The darkness slithered up her legs and continued upwards. Kari started to feel some pain from being touched by the darkness; and the further it went up, the more intense the pain.

Her legs collapsed beneath her but she was still being held up by the digimon. The darkness now twisted around her neck and head. It felt like there were claws clutching at her head, almost like the monster in front of her was invading her mind. She felt sharp pains; like the claws were sinking into her head and she continued to scream. It felt like her mind was on fire.

She realised now that the darkness was trying to take over her mind. She tried to use the power of her crest to push back the darkness, but slowly the light was burning out. The pain was getting to much. The claws were sinking further and further into her head, trying to smother the light she held inside.

" _Now, submit to the darkness!"_

All of a sudden, there was white hot pain as the darkness finally smothered the last of her light. The grip on her mind got too unbearable; the pressure was too much.

 _SNAP_

Then there was nothing but darkness. Kari's eyes dulled as she stared ahead. Her body slumped forward.

The last of her Light was gone.

* * *

 **Keep an eye out for chapter 2 later on today!**


	2. Chapter 2

**The Ocean's Call**

 **Chapter 2**

There was nothing but emptiness.

She felt empty, like every last bit of feeling had been sucked right out of her. She didn't have the will to fight whatever was making her feel like this.

 _Useless_

Words started to echo around her. She didn't who or what was saying them, but she could clearly make out the words.

 _Worthless_

It almost like they were describing her. Yes, those words sounded familiar to her.

 _No one will miss you_

They were right. Who would miss a weakling like her?

She was nothing.

* * *

TK was still in shock after everything. He was currently sat beside Kari's hospital bed. Once the ambulance was called, he had tried to go with her, but he was denied entrance into the vehicle. He ran straight here as soon as he could.

He shouldn't have left her alone. He made that mistake the first time and almost lost her then. Now it seemed a lot more serious. His gaze followed up to the various machines that she was connected to, a mask over her nose and mouth to help with her breathing, and an IV drip connected into her hand.

He had overheard the medical staff talking when he reached her room. They seemed baffled at her condition, they couldn't pinpoint the cause of her unconsciousness nor could get her to wake up. TK knew that the cause was beyond normal circumstances, which frightened him more.

The door to the room burst open as Kari's older brother barged in.

"What the hell happened!?" Tai shrieked as he ran to his sister's side. TK could tell he was panicking; his breathing was short and uneven after running all the way here, TK felt even more guilty for letting this happen to Kari.

Tai whipped his head to face the blonde.

"Tell me!"

"Calm down Tai!" TK looked over to see how own brother enter the room. He looked much calmer than the brunette, but TK noticed the look of concern in his eyes.

Tai looked over at Matt, the panic still plastered all over his face. He took a few deep breaths to try and calm his nerves. When he was done, he turned his attention to TK.

"Can you tell me what happened?"

TK gulped as he started to fidgeted. "I-I honestly don't know. She wouldn't tell me what was wrong."

TK directed his gaze to the brunette laying on the hospital bed. "I tried to get it out of her, but she wouldn't tell me. I told her to go to the infirmary to get some rest-" he took a deep breath as his nerves started to take over. "-and found her unconscious at the bottom of the stairs."

Tai's face paled when he heard the news. TK couldn't stand to be the bearer of bad news. He wished he never had left Kari alone.

"Did you notice anything odd this morning Tai?" Matt asked. At least someone was keeping calm about this situation.

"S-she was late getting up this morning, but she was rushing about that I didn't get a chance to talk to her." Tai replied.

So that's why she was late to school this morning, because of the nightmares. TK silently berated himself, he should've known better than to leave her alone. He should've taken her to the infirmary himself, then he could've had a chance to protect her. Instead, he had failed her.

Everyone whipped their heads when Izzy burst in.

"We have a problem."

* * *

"Report!"

Dragomon's powerful voice echoed throughout the hall, so powerful that it could cause anyone to shake where they stood. His eyes bore down on his servants before him.

"The armies have managed to infiltrate the real world m'lord!"

"The darkness is spreading at a rapid pace, just like you wanted m'lord."

Dragomon cackled. Good, his armies were advancing at a good pace. Soon, he will be strong enough to rule both worlds.

"Excellent, we must proceed on with the plan." Dragomon snarled. He was ready and there was no time like the present.

"What about her?" one of his minions asked. He turned his gaze to the chosen child that was seated beside him. She sat there with a vacant stare on her on her face, her eyes dead and lifeless. Darkness swirled around her, there was nothing left of the light she once had, which made Dragomon more powerful. Without the Light to extinguish the darkness, nothing could stop him.

"She's no threat now. The Light is gone, we're unstoppable now."

Wicked cheers sounded throughout the hall. With the Light gone, darkness was free to rule. Dragomon commanded his servants to move onto the next phase of the plan. They all began to advance towards the exit of the manor, leaving behind the lifeless shell that was once the bearer of Light.

* * *

" _What the hell is going on?"_

Something strange was going on, Gatomon could sense it. Odaiba had gotten darker, almost like there was a storm coming, but considering that the weather reports didn't specify that one was coming, it seemed a bit sudden.

Something was wrong.

Gatomon could feel her hairs stick up as she felt a dark energy coming. She had felt something like this before, around the time Kari disappeared into another world. She thought back to her partner and how she was acting this morning, similar to how she was when she vanished all those years ago. It made the feline nervous when Kari woke up from her nightmare last night, sweating and panting and absolutely terrified. Gatomon knew she hadn't slept well last night, which made her even more nervous when Kari left for school this morning. She couldn't keep still in the Kamiya apartment, so she left for Kari's school to try and check on her partner, it was then that she noticed the dark atmosphere of the city.

A dark figure suddenly jumped at the cat digimon, hissing words that Gatomon couldn't quite make out. She hissed back.

The figure was unlike any creature she had seen before. She couldn't identify it as a digimon she knew, all she could sense was darkness. It looked like those corrupt Scubamon they had encountered when herself, TK and Patamon went to rescue Kari from the dark world.

If that thing was here, that meant Kari was in trouble.

The creature lunged, trying to grab the feline digimon but Gatomon was took quick. She jumped to the side and quickly retaliated with a Lightning Paw attack. The creature hissed and tried to grab her again. Gatomon leaped into the air and landed another punch, causing the creature to dissipate- it's body melting away into dark particles.

Suddenly, there was a boom which caused the city to quake. Gatomon surveyed the ocean in the distance, black clouds hovered over she noticed dark specs falling from the clouds into the ocean. Something was coming. Something bad was coming.

She dashed towards the school. She had bad feeling something had happened to Kari.

* * *

Gatomon sprinted towards her destination. The darkness looming over Odaiba seemed to be growing and those dark creatures seemed to be multiplying. She could hear people screaming as the creatures invaded. This was REALLY bad.

She skidded to a halt when she noticed some of the other Digidestined run out of a hospital building. She ran over to them.

"What's going on?" she asked, hoping to get answers at the strange occurrence that was happening around them.

She noticed Izzy typing away furiously on his laptop. "That's what I'm trying to find out. This is nothing like the normal occurrences we're used to. It seems-"

Everyone gasped when a flood of the dark creatures ambushed them. Gatomon hissed took a defensive stance in front of the children, but she knew she was vastly outnumbered.

The creatures were about to pounce when they suddenly knocked back by a flurry of attacks. She was soon joined by the other digimon.

"Agumon!" Tai's voice yelled behind her.

"Tai, these creatures are flooding the city! We have to do something!" Agumon replied.

"We need to contact the others!" Matt exclaimed, there was just too many. They needed the whole gang her.

Izzy continued to type away. "I'm picking up a major digital reading! That's probably where those creatures are coming from!"

They all looked towards the ocean, where the dark clouds were gathered and the creatures were falling. It looked like some kind of portal, one that was producing an influx of those creatures.

"That's where Kari's got to be!" TK yelled over the noise of people screaming. "Her body was disappearing like that time all those years ago! It's got to be the Dark Ocean that's causing all this."

Gatomon whipped her towards the blonde, her fears seemed to becoming true about her partner.

"But her body is here?" Tai questioned.

"I think what's happened is that whoever is ruling that other world has managed to separate Kari's mind from her body, thus making it easier to try and make her succumb to his powers." Izzy responded. "If it's the same monster that TK and Kari fought all those years ago, then he'll want to corrupt her and take her power for his own. Separating her mind from her body means it's much easier to do so."

Gatomon narrowed her eyes. So the master of that world was trying to corrupt her partner's mind as a way to take her power as his own. She was determined to stop that from happening.

"I need to get into that portal." Gatomon said.

Everyone stared at the feline digimon like she had gone crazy, "If what Izzy says is true, then Kari will be in there. It's happened before. A portal appeared that led us to Kari the first time."

"She's right." TK replied. "That's how we managed to get her back before."

Gatomon nodded. "I need to go. You guys will have to stay to defend the city."

Everyone nodded in agreement. Gatomon couldn't digivolve without her partner, but the others could, making them the best candidates to defend Odaiba.

They fought their way to the beach front, where the cloud towered above them. Gatomon stared up and saw the portal where the creatures were falling from. That was it.

Suddenly, they were ambushed by another wave of creatures. The digimon readied themselves.

"GO!" Tai yelled to Gatomon.

"We'll handle it here!" Matt replied. Gatomon nodded but leaping towards the portal. She looked back to see the other digimon had digivolved to fight off the invasion. She only hoped they could keep it up.

* * *

Gatomon landed into the other world with a thump. She groaned as she picked herself up, noticing the sand beneath her paws. It had worked, leaping into the dark portal created by those swarm of creatures had led her here, this was her chance to find her partner. She surveyed her surroundings, the memories of this dreary place flooding back, causing a shiver to flood her body. This place was nothing but misery.

She looked beyond the dark waters. Kari had to be here. After what TK had told everyone about the incident at school, there was only one place that she would be. Her physical body was back in that hospital, but something was off and Gatomon sensed that this place was behind it.

Suddenly, the water before her began to bubble. She took a defensive stance when the water began to ripple more vicariously and split apart. The water parted before her, a path leading her into the depths of the ocean itself.

This had to be a trap. She edged closer, trying to take a peek at what lay beyond the path but she couldn't see anything clearly, all she could see was black. She had no other choice but to start walking down towards the ocean's depths. She had a feeling that her partner was down there.

* * *

The road had led the feline digimon to a manor. It was huge, painted black to match the atmosphere of this world; the doors towering over the Champion level digimon. Gatomon kept her guard up. Whatever had lead her here was keeping Kari hostage, and she wasn't leaving without getting her partner back. She just hoped her friends could handle the wave of creatures that were infiltrating the real world right now.

Suddenly, the doors opened before her. Gatomon jumped back a little, preparing for anything to jump out at her. Nothing came, but Gatomon refused to let her guard down.

She began walking into the manor, her ears trained to pick up the slightest sound. The place reeked of darkness; nothing but despair and misery was felt in this place. No wonder Kari was so frightened of this place.

When she reached the end of the corridor, the feline was greeted with another set of doors. It wasn't long before they began to creak open and revealed a huge hall lit only by a few candles.

It didn't take Gatomon long to spot her partner up ahead.

"KARI!"

She was so focused on running to the brunette that she missed the figure towering figure emerge from the darkness. Before she could get close to Kari, she was smacked away from her by a strong force. She hit the wall hard, groaning at the pain that flooded her body. She looked up to see Dragomon towering above her.

"It seems I've got some vermin running around." He snarled, bearing his large teeth as a way to intimidate the small digimon before him.

Gatomon refused to be intimidated by this monster. Her main focus was rescuing Kari and getting her out of this place.

"Let Kari go!" she hissed. She stood up, ready to fight. She glanced over at the brunette. Her body was so still, her eyes dead and lifeless. What had this monster done?

"I'm afraid I can't do that." Dragomon replied. Gatomon turned her attention the master of this realm and scowled. "Well I mean, it's not like she'll be any use to you now, for she has succumbed to the darkness. Her Light is useless to you now."

The digimon stilled. Her gaze lingered on her partner. That's why she looked like so lifeless; the colour in her eyes had faded. But if her Light had gone….

"Without her Light to stop the darkness, it makes my armies stronger. Soon the Digital World and the Real World will fall under my rule."

"What have you done to her!?" Gatomon snarled. If what he said was true, then they were in big trouble. She knew Kari's crest was powerful, if that had been extinguished…

"I've merely made her my queen. With the darkness corrupting the light that resides within her, nothing can stop my power now. Her mind is a slave to the darkness now. Nothing will bring her back."

Gatomon's eyes narrowed in hatred. She didn't want to believe what she was hearing; she wouldn't believe that Kari was gone forever.

She turned her body to fully face her partner.

"KARI! You have to fight this!" she screamed as she sprinted towards the brunette. If she could get close enough, maybe she could try and get through to her. Maybe she could…

Her thoughts were interrupted when she was suddenly picked up off the ground. She felt Dragomon's tentacles tighten around her, intent on crushing her.

"I told you that it's no use." He snarled. Gatomon could smell his rancid breath overwhelm her senses. His menacing eyes glared at her as his hand-like form continued to crush her. "She belongs to me now."

Gatomon's eyes lingered on Kari. She had to do something.

"Kari! I know you're in there! You have to fight it- "she gasped as she was slowly being crushed- "I know you're in there. KARI!"

* * *

Something called her.

Maybe she imagined it. Who would be calling her? No one was coming for her. Who would?

" _y-ou….f-figh….t"_

She was useless. She was weak. No one would come to rescue a weak girl like her.

" _K….wake…..Kar"_

But there was someone there. Someone was looking for her. But who?

" _Kar-"_

The voice was becoming a little clearer, it was breaking through the nothingness.

The crackling voice was cut off. A new voice spoke to her, this one much clearer.

 _No one has come for you. You are nothing to them._

Despair crippled her. They were right. She was nothing.

The darkness kept a grip on her. There was nothing out there to save her. Nothing

She was nothing.

* * *

Gatomon couldn't breathe. Dragomon still had her in his crushing grip. She kept her gaze on Kari, hoping that she would just move; just to show that she heard Gatomon's pleas.

She didn't.

She was suddenly flung from Dragomon's grip and smacked into the wall again. She heaved as her breath returned to her, but her body hurt immensely from being crushed.

She had no chance of fighting this monster on her own, she needed her partner.

"K-Kari…please-"she winced as she tried to regain her breath "-you h-have to fight t-this. Please."

She felt like her pleas falling on deaf ears. Kari's body remained so still, no sign of life to be found anywhere. Gatomon's eyes began to sting with tears.

She heard Dragomon's laugh above her. Maybe this was the end.

Gatomon winced as she sucked in some air. She had to try one last time.

"KARI!"

* * *

" _KARI!"_

There it was again, that voice calling for her. It was a different voice to the darkness; a familiar voice. Someone was her for her.

"Where are you?" she looked around but saw nothing but black. But she definitely heard someone.

She suddenly felt an intense pain as the darkness fought back.

 _There's no one there._

It was trying to convince her that she was making things up, but she was sure someone was out there. She winced as the pain continued.

 _No one is here for you. You're nothing. Nothing but weak and useless._

She wanted to scream. Tears burned at her eyes as she felt the darkness winning again. She guessed they were right, she was weak and useless. She couldn't even fight off the darkness by herself.

" _KARI!"_

This time, she knew that voice.

"Gatomon?"

Her digimon was here. Gatomon was here. Gatomon had come for her.

It sounded like Gatomon was in pain, what was happening out there? Was that monster hurting her partner? No, she couldn't let Gatomon die, not because of her.

The darkness tried to force her back; tried to keep her away from escaping. But her digimon was out there; and she needed Kari.

"GATOMON!"

The darkness disappeared as a white light blinded her.

* * *

Kari gasped as she felt the darkness dissipate. The clutch it had on her mind was gone. She was free.

Her eyes caught the sight of Gatomon on the other side of the room, bruised and beaten but she noticed her digimon was smiling at her.

"Welcome back Kari."

Kari was in shock at the state of her digimon. She tried to stand but found her legs unstable. She collapsed on the ground.

"What!? How is this possible!?" Dragomon snapped. Kari whipped her head to face the monster that had tried to corrupt her mind, his mouth pulled back into an angry snarl.

Gatomon struggled to stand as she faced the monster. "Because Light always prevails. No matter how dark it gets, there will always be light to extinguish the darkness."

Kari's eyes softened at her digimon. Gatomon had come for her, despite thinking that no one would.

"Gatomon..." her voice whispered. Her digimon smiled back.

The moment was short-lived as Gatomon was crushed beneath Dragomon's form. Kari screamed, trying to stagger forward as much as her legs would allow her, but the darkness had taken its toll on her.

"Stupid pest, I will eradicate you now!"

Darkness swirled in front of Dragomon, forming into a weapon that would pierce right through the feline digimon and end her life. Kari tried to run, but her legs were like jelly. She couldn't reach Gatomon in time.

"Say goodbye!" Dragomon thrust the weapon forward. Kari screamed until her lungs burned.

Suddenly everything went white.

Kari slowly opened her eyes, still feeling slight pain from the blinding light that had come out of nowhere. She looked up to see a form covered in a pink light. When her eyes had adjusted, she gasped as she saw a pink dragon bathed in a holy light. Magnadramon. Gatomon had digivolved to her mega form.

"How can this be!?" Dragomon roared. He flinced back from the light.

Magnadramon snarled. "Like I said before Dragomon, you cannot fully defeat the light. It can be found even in the deepest of darkness."

Kari couldn't stop staring at her digimon. She had only ever seen this form once, and it was only brief. The pink light gave a sense of warmth and safety, Kari felt her strength return.

Dragomon hissed at the holy dragon. "I will not be defeated by some pathetic fools!" He reformed his dark weapons, Kari gasped. "Prepare to die!"

Kari tried to scream again as she saw the weapon flung towards them. She tried to warn Magnadramon but her voice had given out. Magndramon glowed once again as she produced a shield to deflect the weapon. It bounced off the shield and dissipated into nothingness. Kari was shocked.

The monster howled in rage.

"Now, it's time to end your reign of darkness!" Magnadramon announced as her light became brighter. Dragomon hissed, trails of smoke billowing from his body; almost like the light was burning him.

Kari shut her eyes as the light became too much, but she felt comfort from it.

"Now, begone!"

Magnadramon roared as she unleashed her light within the room. The darkness began to vanish; the greyness of the room disappearing as colour returned. Dragomon roared with pain as his body began to split apart as the light continued to assault him. Kari covered her ears also, wincing at the sound of his screams. She started to count in her head, waiting for the onslaught to be over.

Magnadramon continued to assault Dragomon with her attack, watching as his body was torn apart; his roars echoing around room.

Then he disappeared completely; and so did her light.

Magnadramon's form glowed before she shrunk. She had de-digivolved to Salamon due to the amount of energy she had spent. She crawled over to where Kari was hunched over; her hands still covering her ears.

"Kari." Salamon nudged her partner, encouraging her to open her eyes. Kari did; and sobbed when she saw Salamon before her.

Kari scooped up her digimon in her arms and cried. Relief flooded her mind, she was extremely happy to see her partner.

"Kari, you're hurting me!" Salamon protested as she was being crushed by her partner. Kari loosened her grip slightly, afraid that if she let go completely that Salamon would disappear and she would be all alone again.

"S-sorry."

Suddenly, Kari's form began to glow. Kari panicked slightly as she noticed her body beginning to disappear; but it seemed different this time.

"It's time to go home Kari. You have to return to your body. Everyone's waiting." Salamon said.

Kari sighed in relief. She was going home; she wasn't being taken but the darkness again, everything was going to be alright.

Kari continued to hug her digimon as they both faded into the light.

* * *

Salamon thumped into something soft as the light disappeared. Quite frankly, she was sick was being thrown everywhere.

The feline digimon whipped her head up when she noticed that she had fallen onto Kari's hospital bed. She looked up to find her partner laying on the bed, strapped up to various machines. She crawled forward until she could see Kari's face, hoping that she would awaken.

Kari's eyes began to flutter, Salamon called out to her, encouraging her to fully open her eyes.

Kari's eyes opened fully. She found herself in a strange room, but soon recognised it as a hospital room due to the stark white walls that's surrounded her. Which meant she must be back in the real world.

"You're awake!"

Kari lifted her head to see Salamon on her bed. This was real, they were out of the Dark Ocean. Kari wanted to cry with happiness.

The doors burst open as the other chosen flooded into the room. Tai and TK leading the way to Kari's side, they look a little beat up, but she could see the relief on their faces at seeing her awake.

She was suddenly hugged tightly by her brother, whispering just how happy that she was back. She looked over to TK, who looked relieved to see that she was okay. Tears stung at her eyes. She was home.

And the darkness was gone for good.

* * *

 **A/N: And thus concludes my Digimon bang fic. I really did enjoy participating in this challenge! Check out the tag on tumbler, there's some great works there. I apologise if it seemed a bit rushed at the end, but I wanted to get this out as soon as I could.**

 **2nd a/N: The ending is terrible I know! I panicked about the deadline. There was so much more I wanted to write but just didn't have the time to do so. I will most likely re-write this after the Bang is done. I will be honest, I am not happy with this chapter and I am sorry if I have disappointed you.**

 **Next time, I will take my time to revamp this chapter and most likely get a beta to read it over for me and help me out. I should've done this before posting it but gaaaah deadlines.**

 **But I need a break from this fic before I burn it. I will be moving onto other works now and use beta readers more often now I think.**


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